Stephane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, said in an interview with Bloomberg that customer behavior is changing and price-conscious consumers are driving demand for lower priced smartphones, threatening sales of comparatively expensive phones like the iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S line.

Quote:

The shift has been especially severe in Europe, where more customers are keeping the same phone when they switch carriers. Amid a slumping economy and mounting competition, France Telecom has seen prices drop 25 percent over the past three years, squeezing profit margins and its stock price. Its cheapest plan now provides unlimited calls and texting and 3 gigabytes of data for about 20 euros ($26) a month -- about half the price of T- Mobile USA Inc.'s $50 plan, which is touted as a U.S. bargain.

Richard believes there will be fewer early adopters purchasing the latest and greatest devices going forward, though it's unclear if the slowdown would be restricted to Europe or if it could pressure iPhone sales in the U.S. as well. Regardless, many recent rumors suggest Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone to address some of these concerns.

No, you guys just want to keep selling these phones with ridiculously expensive subscriptions, and then when nobody is buying your phone because it's all to expensive you suddenly claim it's "hurting sales" try making things cheaper, you greedy douche.

More than a cheap iPhone, I would like to see cheaper plans for voice and data. I rather pay my next phone to be unlock and maybe get a "pay as you go" plan. Still these seem very expensive with AT&T in the US.
No wonder they don't want people to leave their 2 year expensive commitment.

1) They are close to a double dip recession
2) The French customers must not be very confident with their economic prospects considering a month does not pass by without a European country that needs to be bailed out
3) The cheaper phones are crossing the threshold of good enough.

Wait, unlimited calls, texts and 3GB of data for $30?! That's like $100 in the states.

I feel for you guys in the states, your plans are ridiculously expensive. You can pick up a sim only plan with 2000 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data (truly unlimited) with tethering included for around $37/month.